The Colorado Avalanche secured the top spot for the playoffs on Thursday; it’s a different story for the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas is holding onto second place in the Pacific by the skin of its teeth. Colorado may rest a few players, but Vegas will go all out to avoid dropping in the standings.
Colorado Avalanche (52–16–10, 114 pts)
The Avalanche took care of business on Thursday night with a victory over the Calgary Flames. With the win, Colorado brought home its fourth President’s Trophy in franchise history, securing home-ice throughout the playoffs. Nathan MacKinnon nailed an empty-net goal to set a new career high (51) in goals. The Captain showed everyone why he is the leader of this team with a perfect power play. Gabriel Landeskog took only six seconds to score the opening goal of the game. We can probably expect a couple of players to get some rest now that the top spot in the playoffs is secure. Who that will be is the biggest question.
OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN! Gabriel Landeskog hammers the puck into the net only six seconds into the PP for his 13th of the season! Nathan MacKinnon (73), Martin Necas (59) on the assists #Avs #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/K8LMULtl6O
— Hockey Mountain High (@HockeyMtnHighCO) April 10, 2026
Projected Lines
Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Ross Colton – Nic Roy – Joel Kiviranta
Parker Kelly – Jack Drury – Logan O’Connor
Devon Toews – Sam Malinski
Brett Kulak – Josh Manson
Nick Blankenburg – Brent Burns
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Vegas Golden Knights (36–26–17, 89 pts)
The Golden Knights ended the month of March with a bang. In a surprise move, they fired head coach Bruce Cassidy. In an even more shocking move, they hired John Tortorella to replace him. The move worked, sending the Golden Knights on a four-game winning streak. The streak would be snapped on Thursday night with a shootout loss to the Seattle Kraken. Mark Stone would open up the game with a pair of goals, and then Seattle answered back with three of their own. Berkly Catton would score the eventual winner in a ten-round shootout.
we’re not too sure who was more excited for the goal 😂 pic.twitter.com/4URSFOmihh
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 10, 2026
Projected Lines
Ivan Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Mark Stone
Brett Howden – Mitch Marner – Pavel Dorofeyev
Brandon Saad – Tomas Hertl – Colton Sissons
Cole Smith – Nic Dowd – Keegan Kolesar
Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson
Jeremy Lauzon – Ben Hutton
Adin Hill
Carter Hart
Game Details
Time: 6:00 p.m. MT
Watch: ABC
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM/AM 950
